Remember When
by MrTofu
Summary: Slightly AU. The story of Lara's college life before she sets off to Yamatai.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hi everyone~ so this'll be the first story I've written in a few years. Recently finished Tomb Raider, fell in love with it, and wanted to a write a story about it. Figured I'd go the opposite route and write something that took place before the events on Yamatai.

So yeah, if you like the story, leave a review, follow, do whatever you guys do to show your support on this site.

Thanks for reading.

* * *

"Your belongings, Miss Croft."

"Thank you, Wilson."

Lara Croft stepped out of a pristine Jaguar XK140, her two large leather suitcases being hauled out of the trunk. In front of her was her dormitory building, where she'd live while she began the next chapter of her life: Cambridge University.

Her butler Wilson grunted and huffed as he painstakingly carried Lara's two suitcases. Two weeks prior, she'd stuffed the entirety of her closet and book collection into both of those. Lara and Wilson walked over to the building, climbed one set of stairs ("Thank the heavens it was only one," Wilson muttered) and into Lara's room. As her deceased father was part of the Royal British Archaeology team, with fellowships at Cambridge and at Harvard in the US, she was granted a single room as an honored guest.

As Lara moved her suitcases in, she surveyed her new room. It was a plain room with a squishy twin bed, a coffee table with a small soft, a modestly sized dresser, and a mini fridge. The bathroom, located in the hall, was meant to be shared amongst the floor's residents. Since she lived in a single, the room was also equipped with a small square table and two chairs.

"Miss Croft," Wilson said as Lara began settling in. "I will be taking my leave now if there is no longer anything I can do for you."

Lara nodded and smiled softly. "Thank you Wilson. I always appreciate your help."

"Of course, my lady. Do not hesitate to call us back at the manor should you need anything."

"Say hello to Ms. Perkins for me when you get back."

"Of course. Good day." Wilson bowed courteously and closed the door quietly behind him.

Lara turned and faced her room. "Okay," she sighed. "Time to unpack..."

The first suitcase contained her small collection of books she'd accumulated over her high school years. The other suitcase contained her sparse wardrobe, which mostly consisted of colored tank tops, white v-neck t-shirts, some flannel shirts, skinny jeans, and a few jackets. She was a girl of simple tastes when it came to clothing. She dumped the entirety of her clothes into the dresser.

Her suitcase filled with books was the one she was looking most forward to. Lara didn't exactly like socializing with people. Despite her drop-dead gorgeous looks, she much preferred to stay indoors and lose herself in her books. She was quite the object of attention throughout her high school years, with a seemingly endless amount of boys fawning over her. However, she remained indifferent when approached by any of them, even causing a huge ruckus to occur when she denied the football captain's prom proposal. She gave him a swift, cold, "no," and walked away without so much as a second though. She just simply did not have any interest in relationships.

As Lara dumped her stacks of books on the floor next to the dresses, someone knocked at the door three times.

"Who is it?" Lara asked, slightly irritated. Although she was moving in, she wanted nothing more than to stay inside and reread some of her favorite novels instead of meeting people.

"I'm one of your neighbors," a muffled voice replied.

Lara dragged herself toward the door and slowly opened it.

"Oh. Wow. Hi," the boy on the other side blurted upon seeing Lara's face. He had shaggy hair, glasses, and a shirt that had a picture of an escape key on it. Upon realizing what he'd blurted, his cheeks turned a faint shade of pink.

"Can I help you?" Lara asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah," he replied, regaining composure. "My name's Alex Weiss. I was just going around introducing myself to everyone on the floor. I live in room 207." He pointed a few doors down. "If you need anything, drop on by and I'll see what I can do to help. I'm pretty handy when it comes to gadgets."

Lara politely smiled. "Thanks, Alex." She extended her hand. "My name's Lara. I'll be sure to visit sometime if I ever need help."

Alex beamed. "Yeah, definitely. I'll-I'll see you around then, Lara." He walked away toward the next door, knocking on it as soon as he reached it.

Closing the door gently, Lara returned to unpacking her books. She'd accumulated quite a bit ever since she started reading. She read mostly novels nowadays, as it was a much more enjoyable. She could devour two or three novels over the course of weekend if they were engaging enough. She pulled out a well-thumbed copy of _Norwegian Wood, _by Haruki Murakami; it was one of her favorite books. . She shrugged, hopped onto the bed and began to read it, for the fifth time.

* * *

"….now, when we investigate dig sites, we try to create two sample areas to investigate within the site. The two goals of any sampled areas are to discover any pattern of variation…"

Lara was sitting in her first class in college: "Archaeology 101: Archaeology Methods and Techniques." She knew she wanted to pursue archaeology as a child. Fitting, since her father was an archaeologist investing the ruins of Roanoke Island before he disappeared during a freak accident in Virginia. It was a calling to her, as if studying his profession would give her insight onto why he mysteriously vanished that day in Virginia.

A raven-haired girl sitting next to her yawned and, rather loudly, slammed her head into the desk. Some people shot dirty looks, but continued taking notes. Lara scorned the girl for disrupting the lecture by being so rude. The girl looked Asian, but something about her facial structure suggested otherwise. She was wearing a red raglan shirt under a leather jacket and had a pair of dark washed skinny jeans.

Lecture ended 40 minutes later. Lara packed up her stuff quietly while people shuffled and shoved their way past her desk. She noticed that most people had already formed small groups of friends with each other. Lara thought it was odd that people could get so close to each other after only one day. She slung her backpack on and silently drifted out of the classroom.

She was still very unfamiliar with the campus, so she was walking around with a map held right in front of her face, glancing up every so often to make sure she didn't crash into anybody. As she crossed the quad to the next building, a male voice yelled, "Hey Lara!"

Lara turned around and saw the smiling face of Alex waving at her as he ran towards her.

She smiled politely, again. "Hi, Alex."

"What up Lara?" he wheezed.

"Just got out of my first class. College…is interesting, so far." She continued walking to her building.

Alex followed. "What's your major?"

"Archaeology. Yours?"

"Electrical Engineering."

"How did you know it was me from behind?"

"You were wearing a ponytail yesterday, and you were the only ponytail in the crowd."

"I see..." Lara distantly answered.

A silence ensued between them as Lara walked to her next class.

"So…what do you think of Cambridge?" Alex asked, hoping to stir conversation.

"I think it's lovely so far. I haven't checked out the library yet. I'll need to get on that, soon."

"Already thinking about the library huh?"

"I'll need to learn how it works if I want to read their archaeological reports on Roanoke Island sometime."

"You've got your life pretty much figured out, don't you?"

"I'm not sure if that's the proper wording." Lara stopped in front of a large lecture hall. "I have another class in here."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you around, Lara!" Alex waved before trotting off.

Lara watched Alex run with inquisitive eyes. She could tell that Alex had somewhat of crush on her. Years of being fawned upon by boys and men alike had given her a certain intuition when it came to understanding when she was and wasn't liked by people. Saving the thought for later exploration, she walked into the lecture hall in front of her. Her next class was "Anthropology 157: Introduction to East Asian Cultures."

She was one of the few people who arrived early, so she took a seat somewhere near the middle of the front. She pulled out _Norwegian Wood_ and picked up from where she left off last night. She was getting absorbed into the book again when someone loudly dumped their butt into the seat next to her. Roused from her reading, she looked up and saw the raven haired Asian girl.

She turned away slightly and rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed that someone this loud would be sitting next to her during lecture. Obviously, she could have opted to move to another seat, but that would be rude. She was brought up to not be rude, as it was considered to be distasteful. Better to be courteous and have people like you than be public enemy #1.

Regardless, Lara made a conscious effort to ignore the girl.

Lecture started once the balding professor walked in and began writing notes on the chalkboard. Lara gazed around the hall and realized how few students were actually taking this class. She estimated about fifteen, maybe twenty at most, for a lecture hall designed for at least 100 students. As such, there was no one sitting next to each other. Most students had a gap of at least five chairs in any direction between the next one. It piqued Lara's interest that this girl had chosen, out of 80 something chairs, to sit right next to Lara. It wasn't a coincidence. She quietly put _Norwegian Wood_ back into rucksack and pulled out a notebook.

The girl beside her yawned and stretched. Lara was busy scribbling notes down, glancing over to the other girl every so often and questioning her actions. Eventually, a loud thump was heard. Lara looked over, and to her non-existent surprise, she saw the girl sleeping. Annoyed, Lara nudged her hard.

"You're going to miss out on lecture notes," she curtly said to the drooling, raven-haired girl.

She yawned. "But I'm so tired," she whined. She rubbed her eyes.

"Well, try to wake up. Regardless," Lara paused slightly. "I think lecture would be rather important starting from day one."

"My name's Sam, by the way. What's yours?"

"Lara."

"I'm charmed," Sam teasingly said in a poor British accent, attesting to her interest in Lara's accent.

Lara shot her a dirty look. "Likewise."

* * *

After her last class ended at 5pm, Lara quickly returned to her room and plopped onto her bed. She was ready to have dinner in a little bit, take a shower, pop a beer or two, and fall asleep while reading. She liked to live quietly.

However, as fate would have it, there was a knock on her door. Grumbling, Lara reluctantly rose up and answered, only to be greeted by Alex once more.

"Hi Lara," Alex cheerfully said, a great big smile plastered on her face. "I was wondering if you wanted to come get dinner with me?"

Lara bit her lip a little. She would have rather much preferred to eat alone, but since it was the first day of college, she replied, "Sure. Give me a second." Lara went to the bathroom, splashed her face with some water, grabbed her phone and wallet, and, making sure she had her key, locked her door. "Ready?" she asked Alex.

" 'Course."

"So how was your day?" Lara perfunctorily asked as they walked down the hall.

"Alright, I suppose. Intro to electrical engineering was pretty bland, but it really is only the first day. Yours?"

They rounded a corner, descended a flight of stairs, and exited the dorm building.

"Okay. Still adjusting to college life. How're your room mates?"

"Ehh…I only have one, but he seems nice. He's an English major, but I only saw him once this whole day. Guess he was reading books or whatever English majors need to do."

"Probably writing about how he WON'T get a job with that degree," Lara quipped.

Alex laughed. "Wow Lara, that's harsh! At the very least he might get a job in publishing or something..."

They soon arrived to the cafeteria. A bunch of students were already there, their conversations all mingling in the air, creating a warm atmosphere. The cafeteria was more like a food court than a traditional cafeteria, with various sections dedicated to types of ethnic and local foods. Lara opted for Greek and Alex went for some Indian curry.

"Interesting decision of food," Alex remarked upon seeing Lara's gyro.

"I could say the same about you," she replied. "You don't look the kind of guy who likes to eat curry."

He shrugged. "I had a lot of Indian friends growing up. When I went over to their houses, I was pretty much served curry. I still know nothing about curry though, I usually just pick whatever sounds good. This is some type of yellow curry, I think."

"Is that so," Lara absentmindedly said as she took a bite of her gyro. Although it was pleasant to not have dinner alone, she wanted to be alone for a while. "Where did you grow up?" she asked after a period of silence that ensued after her first response.

"I grew up in Los Angeles. You?"

"London. You're quite a ways from home, aren't you? What made you want to come overseas for college?"

Alex shrugged. "I had the grades and England seemed like an attractive place to go. Plus, I also really love British accents, so when I learned I got into Cambridge, I was all for it. What about you?"

"This was my father's alma mater. He came here for archaeology and I'm doing the same."

"Following in your old man's footsteps huh? You seem to really like your dad."

Lara smiled wanly. "You could say something like that."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hi all. So first of all, finals suck ass, major ass. i don't want to do anything /flails on ground/. wrote this up today when i should be studying, but anyway.. just a short update from me you. if you guys also have finals this week, good luck. realistically speaking i might only be updating once or twice a week, but if i have time, i'll update when i can.

continue to follow, review, like, whatever you guys do to show your support! it means a lot to me c:

* * *

**Chapter 2**

When Lara was about eleven years old, her father mysteriously vanished at a Roanoke Island settlement. The causes for his disappearance were unknown. He had left with a crew of about six members of the Royal British Archaeology team and two beaming undergraduate interns. They were to explore a recently uncovered clue that would supposedly lead to an artifact from the Lost Colony.

However, three days after the expedition began on the island, all communication from the team was lost. Puzzled, the executive members of the Royal British Archaeology issued a search and rescue team to investigate what had happened. After several hours of scouring the island, they found only four members and the undergraduate interns. Richard Croft was nowhere to be found. The search and rescue team asked the survivors what had happened to the expedition team, but they had no memory of the event whatsoever. One of the interns seemed to remember a flash of some sort before losing consciousness. Officially, Richard Croft was declared "missing." The case was under investigation for three years, but when the case soon went cold because there was so little evidence to run off of. Eventually, when Lara turned sixteen, the Croft family held a funeral for Richard.

As a child, however, Lara was never close to her father. Once, when she was five, she accompanied her father on a dig in Mongolia. She had found a skull exposed near the tent they were staying at. Excitedly, Lara brought over the skull to her father, screaming that she had found something interesting. Her father simply smiled, gave her a kiss on the cheek and warmly said, "That's my girl." These were the only words of significant affection Lara heard from her father.

Lara and Alex walked back from the cafeteria and bid their good nights. She walked back into her room and stripped immediately. She felt tired and wanted nothing more than a hot shower. After a quick hot shower and a change of clothes into cotton shorts and a white v-neck t-shirt, she grabbed her rucksack and emptied its contents onto her desk. A textbook on anthropology, a small book on archaeological methods, and the novel she was supposed to read for English lay haphazardly on her desk. She figured she'd start doing work later. Deciding to visit the common room, Lara put on a light jacket and headed out.

There were three dorm buildings: Woolf, Keats, and Clarke. Each dorm building had five floors, each separated into two wings. They were mostly coed, as they were "no longer children," so intermingling of both sexes was permitted. The first floor of each building contained a common room and a front desk where students received their mail, along with two large laundry rooms. The second floor was the only floor that housed single rooms, although some doubles were scattered across the floor, mostly at the end though. The third and fourth floors were double and triple rooms. The fifth floor was all triples.

The common room of Lara's building had a pool table, foosball table, two ping pong tables, several small tables, and two plush couches placed in front of a large TV. It was all designed to get students like Lara to come out and attempt to socialize. It was working, much to Lara's dismay.

She saw a familiar face playing pool with two other girls. It was Sam, smiling widely and chatting with, Lara presumed, her room mates. She suddenly felt alone living in a single. But realistically, Lara would have never gotten along with a roommate. She valued her alone time far too much.

Sam noticed Lara from afar and waved her over, loudly saying, "Lara, over here!"

Lara, slightly surprised for being called out, looked over and waved back in return before timidly walking over.

"What brings you down here?" Sam asked, readying her pool cue for her next shot.

"I figured I should at least explore the building I'm living in," Lara blandly replied, observing the balls as the clacked against each other.

"Oh!" Sam suddenly exclaimed. "By the way, Lara, this is my roommate, Jennifer and her friend from back home, Ashley." Jennifer, a blonde, said hello. Ashley simply smiled and waved.

"I'm Lara. Lara Croft. It's a pleasure to meet you both." She turned back to Sam after shaking both their hands. "Were you three just playing? I thought a game of pool required an even amount of people."

"Not in particular," Jennifer answered. "We were just having fun hitting balls around."

"She likes to play with balls a lot, if you know what I mean," Sam whispered to Lara.

"Hey! I heard that!" Jennifer laughed.

"Relax, relax!" Sam said as she put her arms as a joking form of protest. As the situation settled down, Sam picked up another pool cue off the wall and handed it to Lara. "Wanna shoot a few games?"

Grabbing it, Lara said, "Sure. It'll be fun."

* * *

After playing a few games, Jennifer and Ashley split off from Sam and Lara. The two claimed they were going to meet some other people from back home. Sam decided to tag along with Lara.

"What're you gonna do now?" Sam asked as they left the common room.

Lara pursed her lips. "Quite honestly, I think I might pick up a couple beers. I like to keep my fridge stocked."

"To the convenience store it is."

The two walked in silence, the clack of their heels against the sidewalk being the only noise that accompanied them. In the background were a couple of people yelling in high spirits, although they heard very few of those.

The convenience store was located in the middle of campus. Lara grabbed a six-pack of PBR, which were the cheapest beers in the store.

"Do you drink a lot?" Sam inquired once they left the store.

"I suppose," Lara shrugged. "I don't like getting drunk, but I do like the taste of alcohol."

"I see," Sam said. "I'm not much of a drinker myself."

"Uh huh."

The two then walked in silence again. There seemed to be a perpetual silence that hung over the two of them. Eventually they returned to Lara's room, where Sam asked, "Do you mind if I have a beer with you?"

Lara shrugged. One beer never hurt anyone. "Sure. Only one though, I paid for these." She tossed a can to Sam.

Sam chuckled as she caught it. "Of course, Lara." Popping the can open and taking a sip, she asked, "So tell me about yourself."

"I don't know what to tell you, I was born and raised in London, did some traveling as a kid, read books and generally kept to myself. It's a pretty boring life."

"You traveled a lot as a kid?"

Lara nodded. "My father was an archaeologist. He explored a lot of tombs back in the day. What about you? What's your story?"

"Born in Los Angeles, but moved to Vancouver when I was four. I lived in Vancouver until I was about...I think…ten, and then my dad got a new job that required him to move around a lot. So I've lived in Tokyo, New York, Paris, and Seattle in that time."

"Hectic life," Lara simply commented. "What's your major?"

"I'm undecided as of right now. I'm just taking classes that sound interesting to me, and then I'll probably commit to a major sometime next year."

"But archaeology and anthropology classes?"

"I think people are interesting!" Sam cheerfully said, smiling widely. "It's cool to understand how people have lived in history, and then from there we can see the similarities between then and now" A slight pause. "What about you? What's your major?"

"Archaeology."

"Following in your old man's footsteps, huh?"

"I guess you could say that."

It was nearing 8pm. Lara and Sam talked for a few more hours, mostly chatting about nonsensical topics and about their thoughts on Cambridge after their first day. Soon enough, Lara became tired and politely asked Sam to leave, as she wanted to sleep soon.

"Oh, no problem," Sam said. "That reminds me, give me your phone."

"Why do you need it?" Lara cautiously asked, handing her phone over.

"To put my number in, duh," Sam said as she stuck her tongue out. "Let's hang out again sometime. Night, Lara."

"Good night, Sam."

Sam walked out the door with a little hop in her step.

Returning to her bed, Lara collapsed onto it and sighed. She looked at her phone's new contact, Sam Nishimura. She thought nothing of it, simply putting the phone on her nightstand and rolling over into a comfortable position on the bed. It was plush and very comforting, and, before she knew it, Lara had fallen asleep.

* * *

That night, Lara had a dream. She dreamed about her father and the last things he said before leaving for Roanoke Island.

_"If everything goes right, this dig will literally change history."_

_ "Lara, archaeology isn't just about finding old things from the past. It's about making connections and bridging the gaps in our understanding of humanity."_

_"Things that are hidden were meant to be found at some point or another."_

She then saw her father at the airport. She was wearing a flowery dress, holding her mother's hand. Her father waved goodbye to her, grinning widely as he set off on another expedition. Lara, at the time, had no idea how important archaeology really was to her father. All she knew was that he would go missing for weeks at a time before coming back, covered in dirt but filled with stories about the expedition. She always thought her father was kind of stupid for doing archaeology. Ironic, now that Lara's going into the same field as her father now.

She slept fitfully that night. Upon waking up early in the morning, Lara went straight for the books stacked near her desk. She threw the novels stacked on top around until she got to the intellectually stimulated material – history books. She had a small collection of history books on several periods of time, but a few of them were dedicated solely to the colonization of America and Roanoke Island.

She pulled out a dusty looking book and read a little about the first attempts at colonizing America until the sun peeked over the horizon.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: hello hello. finals are awful, and quite honestly i'm just glad to be done with them ;v; here's another update. hope all you guys are doing well~

* * *

Lara walked into her anthropology class early, as usual.

She sat in the same spot as usual. The same people shuffled in and took their seats. Sam also took the same spot next to Lara.

"How's it going, Lara?" Sam asked.

"I'm doing well, thanks," Lara stiffly answered. "Yourself?"

Sam dramatically took a tragic pose. "Oh, I woke up with the _worst_ hangover in the world! How could let me shotgun a beer Lara, how could you?"

"Sam…" Lara irritably began. "Could you not?"

Sam stuck her tongue out. "You sure have a great sense of humor, Lara."

"Hey now…"

"Anyway," Sam hurriedly said, trying to ease up the mood. "Did you know they're doing club rush at the quad today? Wanna go after class? I figure there might be some clubs we both might be interested in."

The brunette paused for a moment, playing with her ponytail a little. "I suppose so. I think it might be healthy for us to cultivate our interests."

The two sat through lecture, Sam almost falling asleep again about halfway through. Once lecture was over, Sam grabbed Lara's hand and dragged her out to the quad. Many clubs were set up around the grassy area, with the more passionate members standing and waving their flyers around.

"Let's split up and meet back in about half an hour?" Sam asked. "I've already seen a few things that I like…"

"Sure," Lara nodded. "Half an hour."

"You have a very interesting way of speaking, did you know that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sam pushed Lara gently. "Half an hour!" She then trotted off into the throng of clubs.

Lara sighed. She walked around aimlessly, making sure to avoid all the Greek life tents. She didn't particularly feel like getting involved in a sorority or a co-ed fraternity. She passed through the section where most of the non-science and math clubs were, and she saw a sign that piqued her interest.

_Royal British Archaeology now accepting undergraduate interns. See us for more information_.

A large black arrow pointed to a humble looking tent, where an old man sat. Two assistants were chatting amicably in the background.

Lara approached the tent. The old man raised his head and gave her a quick once-over, as if judging if she was qualified enough to be worth his time.

"Hello," Lara timidly said. "What do I need to do to become an intern?"

The old man looked straight into her eyes. "Lotsa determination." His accent was English and his voice was a little rough around the edges. "We'll take anyone who can prove they have the worth to uncover history's mysteries. What makes you think you can do it?"

"I've a healthy interest in history, sir," Lara answered honestly. "Being an archaeologist is something I'd like to do, and it would be an honor if I could work for the Royal British Archaeology team."

The Scotsman looked at her briefly and laughed, as if he knew something she didn't. "You've got guts, girl. Most people would've given me a half-assed answer. But there's something different about you. Here, put your name on the mailing list. James," he called. The assistant ran over with a piece of paper. Hardly anyone had put their name on the list. "We'll contact you once we've put you in a suitable position."

Slightly confused at the man's change in attitude, Lara wordlessly put her name down and her contact information. "When can I expect a reply?"

The Scotsman shrugged. "The higher ups will take care of that. Just keep your eyes and ears alert for any news or mail we send your way."

"Right." Lara took a deep breath, still wondering why it'd been so easy to appease the old man. "Thanks."

"So long, lass."

As Lara walked away, the old man looked down at the list. He read her name and the faintest of smirks crept onto his face. "You wouldn't believe it Richard," he said under his breath. "She's actually doing it. You'd be so proud of her right now."

* * *

As Lara continued browsing all the clubs nearby, none of which particular sparked her interest. Some close runner-ups were the history club, literature society of England, and the artifact collector's club. Also included were some professional Greek organizations dedicated solely to history and anthropology.

She ran into Sam a few moments later. Realistically speaking, Sam, who was so buzzed from excitement, bumped into Lara while ferociously scouring for more clubs to investigate.

"Oh," A flustered Sam began. "I didn't even realize you were here."

"You seem rather excited with everything so far," Lara commented.

"How could you not, Lara? I'm getting _involved_ with campus life at Cambridge! It's like a dream come true."

Lara laughed slightly She had to admit, the girl had an infectious personality. "I think it's okay. I found one thing I'm interested in, so far."

"Oh really? That's good to hear – I've found too many clubs I like, like Room 9, Videographers Institute, Photography Club, and other sorts of artistically inclined stuffs."

"I never figured you'd be an artsy type."

Sam giggled. "There's more than meets the eye huh?" She stuck her tongue out at Lara. "Hey, come walk with me through the crowds, maybe we'll find something interesting."

Lara hesitated. "Alright then," she said, giving in to the raven haired girl's smile.

Happily, Sam grabbed her arm and they navigated through the crowd together. Nothing was especially interesting; people tended to stay in their respective cliques when it came to clubs. The so-called "popular kids" stayed mostly amongst the Greek life tents, the studious ones stayed near academic organizations, the sporty ones were recruiting for their teams, and so on.

Along the way Lara spotted Alex, who was talking to a member of an electrical engineering society. She called out his name, surprising Sam a little, and upon seeing Lara's face Alex ran over. She introduced him to Sam and they chatted a little. Then the three of them decided to go and have lunch. Sam and Alex hit it off pretty well, which wasn't a surprise, considering that Sam came off as a very open and likable girl.

The rest of their day consisted of their lunch, reviewing the day's events, and shooting a quick game of pool.

* * *

A few weeks passed.

So far, Lara's life had been progressing along smoothly. There were parties here and there, midterms to study for, club meetings she was forced to attend due to Sam dragging her along; but in all seriousness, nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Lara got closer to Sam and Alex over the months, eventually leading the three of them to hang out together frequently during the weekends, and it almost became a necessity for them to pound a couple beers and a few shots of hard liquor after a particularly stressful midterm week. By now it was known that Lara's circle of friends consisted of Alex and Sam. Other people who were introduced and tried to talk to her had futile aspirations. Lara just seemed to keep to herself far too much except for the two people she kept in close contact with.

Near the end of the first quarter, Lara had to begin registering for next quarter's classes. She was browsing through the catalog on her computer, looking for interesting anthropology classes to take. So far, nothing really caught her eye. She was more interested in her history books about the colonization of America. To satisfy her now-growing appetite for that particular part of history, she began looking through the library's records of the Royal British Archaeology expeditions to America in the early 50s and 60s.

On one November afternoon, Alex and Lara went off to the library together. The second midterm season was just around the corner and the two decided to buckle down and get their studying caps on. They settled on studying on the second floor of the library, quietly tucked away from the commotion the first floor held. Alex was reviewing his calculus notes and physics problems whereas Lara was brushing up on her archaeological techniques and East Asian culture.

"Say," Alex said as he scribbled on a paper filled with integrals and variables. "You've been gone a lot this week. It's like studying with you is the first time I've seen you all week."

"I've spent a lot of time here," Lara replied nonchalantly. "Been doing a lot of reading recently."

"Oh? On what?"

"History."

Alex snorted. "RIght. Archaeology is pretty much all history. But to be missing from me and Sam?"

Lara cocked her head to the side and bit her lip. "Sometimes I just like to be alone and lose myself in the history books. It's just interesting to me."

Alex erased his paper aggressively. "I think I might start looking for internships soon."

"You're only a freshman, though," Lara began. "Isn't a little difficult for you to get one right now?"

"There was a career fair for engineers a week or two ago. I went and checked it out, but I did overhear from a couple companies that since we're 'Cambridge' students and that we're 'crème of the crop,' they'd be willing to accept freshmen into their programs. I think I might try and work for a power plant of some sort over break."

"Sounds tough. Good luck."

"Aren't you going to look for a…an archaeology or history internship thing?" Alex cautiously asked.

Lara paused. "I actually signed up with the Royal British Archaeology team way back at that club showcase thing.

"Royal British Archaeology?" Alex asked incredulously. "Lara, that's amazing! How come you didn't tell Sam or me about it? We probably would've thrown you a party for that!"

Lara blushed slightly. "Sorry. I'm not exactly used to sharing all my thoughts with people. If that makes any sense." She looked down at the table, avoiding Alex's stare.

"Lara, Sam and I are you friends now. I hope you realize that you can share everything with us, and we'll have your backs. I – We care about you a lot, even though we've only known each other for what, a month or two? But I'm telling you, don't worry. We have your back." His voice was firm, yet gentle.

"Thanks, Alex," Lara muttered. "I'll try to…share more with you guys."

A brief silence settled between the two of them.

"The first day of college," Alex began. "I remember you seemed really antisocial."

"I've been called that a few times," Lara confessed. "It's just the way I've been brought up."

Alex gave a warm laugh. "Well, maybe these next four years you'll be able to open up to me and Sam. So, you know, you'll always have someone to rely on."

Lara gave a soft smile. "Thanks, Alex. I promise that one of these days we'll have a real talk."

"Hey, don't push it. You, me, and Sam, we'll all sit down and have a heart to heart. If you like, we can have a heart to heart right now."

She frowned. "Do you know a man named Richard Croft?"

Alex shook his head. "Although, the name is somewhat familiar."

"He was my father. A famous archaeologist back in the day, he was part of several important digs, like the one in Mongolia. He helped uncover several lost artifacts from Genghis Khan's empire while exploring the northern part of the country. I never got to see him much as a child, as he was always overseas with his expeditions. When I was eleven, he went on an expedition to Roanoke Island to investigate the lost colony but went missing. It bothers me that he mysteriously vanished and no one knows why."

Alex pursed his lips. "I'm assuming you chose archaeology because...it's following in your father's footsteps? Am I right?"

"Basically, yes. I'm hoping the Royal British Archaeology team will help give me some clues as to why my father disappeared. People just don't disappear without a reason."

Alex sat there, absorbing what he'd just heard from Lara. She had a renewed determination in her eyes. It seemed that verbally discussing her father's disappearance ignited a flame somewhere in her body, fueling her to uncover the truths about her father.

Without skipping a beat, Lara dived right back into her history book, absorbing all the information she could.


End file.
